The invention relates to power transmission belts having a pulley engaging surface comprising a non-woven region infused with an elastomer having a metal salt of carboxylic acid.
It is known in the art to make power transmission belts from elastomeric materials having an embedded tensile member. The belts may describe a multi-rib, toothed, v-belt, or flat profile. The belts run in pulleys having a matching profile.
It is known that the rib flank surfaces of V and multi-v rib belts are subject to sliding wear, temperature extremes, normal, tangential and frictional forces that cause belt noise, rib surface sloughing, slipping, and chatter. It is also known that power transmission capacity and belt longevity are functions of several factors, including the type of material contacting the pulley surfaces. These are currently addressed by incorporating a high loading of various fibers into the mix of the undercord materials. These fibers, or portions of them, are exposed when the V profile is cut or ground to form the belt from the cured belt slab. The resulting surface is a combination of the base polymer and exposed fibers. This technique is limited with regard to an engineering approach for composite design, and/or controlling friction, noise, and slippage. It also creates a stiff structure that resists bending, which can contribute to belt rib cracking and shortened belt life.
Representative of the art is U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,510 (1990) to Matsuoka which discloses a v-ribbed belt having a surface layer comprising a non-woven fabric at the outer surface vulcanized to ribs solely made of rubber.
Also representative of the art is U.S. Pat. No. 5,860,883 (1999) to Jonen et al. which discloses a power transmission belt having a compression rubber layer having a rubber composition including a hydrogenated nitrile rubber, an unsaturated carboxylic acid metal salt, and an inorganic peroxide.
Reference is also made to copending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/120,626 filed Apr. 10, 2002 and U.S. application Ser. No. 09/908,235 filed Jul. 18, 2001.
What is needed is a power transmission belt having a surface comprising non-woven material infused with an elastomeric compound having a predetermined amount of metal salt of carboxylic acid. What is needed is a power transmission belt having a surface comprising non-woven material infused with an elastomeric compound having a predetermined amount of metal salt of carboxylic acid to reduce a slip noise. What is needed is a power transmission belt having a surface comprising non-woven material infused with an elastomeric compound having a predetermined amount of zinc stearate to reduce a slip noise. The present invention meets these needs.
The primary aspect of the invention is to provide a power transmission belt having a surface comprising non-woven material infused with an elastomeric compound having a predetermined amount of metal salt of carboxylic acid.
Another aspect of the invention is to provide a power transmission belt having a surface comprising non-woven material infused with an elastomeric compound having a predetermined amount of metal salt of carboxylic acid to reduce a slip noise.
Another aspect of the invention is to provide a power transmission belt having a surface comprising non-woven material infused with an elastomeric compound having a predetermined amount of zinc stearate to reduce a slip noise.
Other aspects of the invention will be pointed out or made obvious by the following description of the invention and the accompanying drawings.
The invention comprises a belt having a region comprising a non-woven material region on a pulley engaging surface. The non-woven region is infused with an elastomeric compound. A predetermined amount of metal salt of carboxylic acid is included in the elastomeric compound during compounding. The metal salt of carboxylic acid in the elastomeric compound significantly reduces or eliminates slip noise.